Just My Viewpoint - We Need Variety To Be Strong

The store was fine when I drove up on Monday, and we actually had a really busy day with lots of fun, interesting customers, so that was great too. There were more peaceful protests taking place in the Cities - the days seem to be full of peaceful protests, the nights are a bit more fraught with tinder, tempers and confrontations. We're far from an isolated voice in the wilderness. It seems that almost every large metro area is having its own riots and demonstrations - many not peaceful at all. 

I'm putting pictures of flower gardens in my blog today. Why flower
gardens? Because they are beautiful to look at, calming to the eye,
and because it is the diversity of plants that makes for a beautiful
garden. 

I look at the history of demonstrations in this country - so many demonstrating for equality, for human rights, for dignity for people of color, and so many starting out with great promises and ended up running on the same old tired treadmill to nowhere. It's no wonder to me that people are angry. They have every right to be. Yes, opportunities have increased since I was young, but true equality isn't there yet. When Navajo Indians are fighting COVID without running water to more than 30% of their homes, and when multitudes of Lakota Sioux people live in substandard housing without heat in the bitten winters of South Dakota, there is no equality. There are no jobs, there are limited opportunities, and the only ways out are by leaving home, family and heritage behind. 

I love the red and blue flowers in this garden. They're
bright and colorful in the sunshine. 

People of color are looked upon with greater suspicion, watched more closely in a crowd, and dogged when in larger groups. Why? The white person around the corner is just as likely to be a thief, but it's the brown person who is watched. People are tired of feeling like they're not good enough. They are tired of walking with a target on their backs, and tired of having to take low paying grunge jobs because that's all they can get in their neighborhoods. 

Here are some shorter flowers, but again, the mix of colors
and blooms are what's so interesting and beautiful about
the garden. 

I'd like to see some serious changes because I've always believed it is possible if corporate America would just wake up to the reality of a huge pool of talented people that just need a place to be able to use their talents. I want large corporations to start looking at the poorer, more colored sections of town as opportunities to set up a location and hire local talent. I want manufacturing plants, design studios, architects and think tanks to spread out from their comfort zones and see what America can truly offer to them. You want thinking outside the box? Try hiring a poor black kid who's been trying to self-educate. You might be very pleasantly surprised at the viewpoints and skill sets he/she can offer. 

Even in the wild, nature prefers to mix things up. Here we
have a bee garden in the wild, and I'm quite sure the
bees enjoy visiting the blooms. 

Just my thoughts, and I fully admit I'm a privileged white girl who got really lucky. But I think that luck has to spread, thus this little rant as we all try to get our feet back under us once again. Have a wonderful Tuesday and please, stay safe and stay well.